The cooperative interaction of triplex forming oligonucleotides on DNA-triplex formation at electrode surface: Molecular dynamics studies and experimental evidences

A Study on the Stability of High Drug Solubility Characteristics of Hydroxyphenyl Adhesives under the Interference of CPEs

Novel hydroxyphenyl adhesives (HP-PSAs) could significantly increase drug solubility and control drug release through a doubly ionic hydrogen bond (DIH bond) in the patch. However, chemical penetration enhancers (CPEs) always destroy the performance of most adhesives. As a result, this work investigated the stability of both the HP-PSA features and the DIH bond under the interference of the CPEs. Donepezil (DON) was chosen as the model drug, and CPEs with hydroxyl, carboxyl, amido, and ester groups were selected as model CPEs. Unlike the commonly used neutral H-bond, the DIH bond between DON and the HP-PSA was still stable under the interference of the CPEs, resulting in the 2-3-fold drug solubility in the HP-PSA, which was higher than that in the nonfunctional PSA, which reduced the drug crystallization risk and the difficulty of formulation design. FT-IR, 1H NMR, XPS, dynamic simulation, and molecular docking revealed the mechanism of the stability feature of both the DIH bond and the high drug solubility of the HP-PSA, which was that the formed neutral H-bond interaction caused by CPEs is weaker than that of the DIH bond between DON and the HP-PSA. Furthermore, the drug release, skin permeation, and CPE release study showed that the newly formed weak H-bond and strong ionic H-bond interaction promoted or controlled both DON and CPE release, respectively, thereby influencing drug skin permeation, which provided a theoretical basis for drug release regulation. To summarize, besides the reversible, strong features of the DIH bond in our previous study, the stability of the interaction made the HP-PSA's high drug solubility potential to be applied in the TDDS.

Photothermal-triggered system for oligonucleotides delivery from cationic gold nanorods surface: A molecular dynamic investigation

Bioconjugate gold-based nanostructures combining the plasmonic photothermal effect with photothermal-triggered DNA delivery are appealing materials for medical diagnostic and therapy for cell-based disease. In this study, we demonstrate the use of surface hybridization to prepare DNA-modified gold nanorods to be used as photo-delivery system for single stranded oligonucleotides. The as prepared DNA modified gold nanorods have strong absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared regions in which the absorbed light through photothermal effect, induces a surface temperature increasing up to the melting temperature with consequent DNA release. No evident DNA release was observed below the melting temperature. The experimental data were supported by molecular dynamic simulation investigation, showing the kinetics aspect of dsDNA de-hybridization at gold nanorods surface at temperature below (298 K) and above (333 K) the melting temperature of sequence investigated. We demonstrate that the cationic charges of surfactant, localized at nanorods surface, induce a remarkable de-hybridization of strands DNA, as confirmed by an increasing of hybridization enthalpy value of about 7 kcal/mol and by a faster de-hybridization process, respect the model of gold nanorods without positive charges. These data were corroborated by the increasing of the root mean square deviation value (about 4.4 Å, calculated at 333 K) indicating that the presence of cationic headgroup at gold surface induce separation of the double strand. This finding data paving the way for the development of nanostructured material for photothermal-triggered delivery systems of DNA for gene therapy application.